The Alpha’s Barren Luna

Elara had imagined this moment so many times that she knew exactly how Cassian would react.

He would walk through the doors after weeks at the northern border, still carrying the mountains' cold on his clothes, and she would wait for him with the dinner she had spent the entire afternoon preparing. She would pretend everything was ordinary until he noticed the small silver gift box beside his plate.

Then she would watch his face when he opened it.

For five years, she had waited for the day she could tell her mate that they were finally going to have a child.

Tonight, that day had come.

Elara stood in the dining hall of the Nightfang Pack’s residence, carefully adjusting the last candle before stepping back to inspect the table. Mushroom stew simmered over a low flame, roasted venison had been seasoned with the herbs Cassian preferred, and spiced potatoes filled the center of the table.

She had even worn the green dress he always complimented.

Her fingers brushed the small gift box resting near Cassian’s chair, and a smile touched her lips despite the nervous flutter in her chest.

Inside was a positive pregnancy test.

Four weeks of secretly waking before dawn to place her hand over her stomach and wonder whether the tiny life growing inside her would finally give the Nightfang Pack what its elders had demanded for years.

An heir.

The thought should have frightened her.

Instead, it had filled her with a happiness so powerful that she had almost forgotten every cruel word she had endured.

She was wolf-less.

That fact had followed her from childhood like a sentence.

Among werewolves, a wolf was more than an animal living inside the body. It was a connection to strength, instinct, healing, and the pack itself. Elara had been born without one, making her an Omega in a society where rank mattered almost as much as blood.

Yet Cassian had chosen her.

He had marked her and made her his Luna.

For years, that had been enough to silence anyone who questioned her place beside him.

But the elders had never stopped reminding her that a Luna who could not produce an heir was eventually going to become a problem.

Tonight, she had planned to end that conversation forever.

A sound came from outside.

Howls.

Then the heavy opening of the main gates.

Elara’s heart jumped.

Cassian was home.

She hurried toward the entrance, her smile widening as she heard boots crossing the stone courtyard. Several warriors entered first, covered in travel dust and dried mud from the northern border. Behind them came the pack’s Beta and a few senior guards.

Then Cassian appeared.

He looked exactly as she remembered him.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dark hair slightly disheveled from battle. His black Alpha coat hung heavily around his frame, and the faint scent of pine and cold air followed him into the hall.

Elara’s eyes immediately searched his face.

He wasn’t smiling and that was strange.

Then she noticed the woman walking beside him.

Her smile disappeared.

There was Seraphina.

The Beta’s daughter.

Cassian’s childhood companion.

A skilled warrior who had fought beside him for years and, according to the pack gossip Elara had learned to ignore, had always wanted more from him than friendship.

Seraphina’s hand rested protectively over her stomach.

Elara stared at it.

The room seemed to shrink around her.

Seraphina was pregnant.

Cassian stopped several feet away, his expression unusually serious. He glanced toward the elders gathering behind him before returning his attention to Elara.

“Elara, I need you to remain calm while I explain something,” Cassian said, his jaw tightening as though he already knew the words would hurt her.

Her gaze remained fixed on Seraphina’s stomach.

“What happened?” Elara asked, forcing herself to keep her voice steady.

Cassian drew a slow breath.

“Seraphina is carrying my child,” he said, his expression heavy with guilt.

The words struck harder than any physical blow.

Elara didn’t move.

For several seconds, she could hear nothing except the pounding of her own heart.

Then a small object slipped from the gift box in her hand.

The pregnancy test landed silently on the carpet behind her.

Nobody noticed except Elara.

Her eyes dropped to it.

The two lines, her child and her prepared announcement.

Her carefully planned happiness lay on the floor while another woman’s pregnancy was being announced to the entire pack.

“Elara,” Cassian said, stepping toward her with concern written across his face, “say something.”

She slowly raised her eyes to him.

“How?”

One word.

That was all she could manage to say.

Cassian’s shoulders stiffened.

“I was at the northern border,” he replied, his expression tightening. “After the battle, the warriors celebrated. I drank more than I should have. I woke up beside Seraphina.”

A murmur spread through the room.

Elara’s fingers curled against her palm.

“You slept with her because you were drunk?” she asked, staring at him in disbelief.

Cassian looked away for a moment before meeting her eyes again.

“I don’t remember everything that happened that night, but the healer confirmed the child is mine.”

Seraphina lowered her gaze, one hand still resting over her stomach.

“I never intended to come between you and Cassian,” she said softly, her expression carefully sorrowful.

Elara’s attention snapped toward her.

Seraphina’s eyes glistened.

“But I won’t pretend this child doesn’t exist.”

Several elders exchanged glances.

Then Elder Rowan stepped forward, his face stern.

“This changes everything,” he said, folding his hands behind his back.

Elara looked at him.

“What exactly does it change?”

The elder’s expression hardened.

“For five years, the Nightfang Pack has waited for an heir from its Luna. Now Alpha Cassian has a child on the way.”

Elara felt the familiar judgment settle over the room.

Another elder shook his head.

“We cannot ignore succession simply because the child’s mother is not the Luna.”

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

“That is enough,” he said, his voice carrying the authority of the Alpha.

The room immediately fell silent.

He turned toward Elara.

“She remains my mate and Luna. No one will remove her from that position.”

Elara stared at him.

There it was again.

The title.

The position.

The protection of her status.

But not the protection she desperately needed.

Cassian had brought another woman into their home carrying his child, and somehow everyone was already discussing that child as though it belonged to the future of the pack.

Her hand drifted instinctively toward her stomach.

She wanted to tell him

Cassian was about to become a father twice.

He simply didn’t know it yet.

“Elara,” Cassian said quietly, approaching her, “we need to talk somewhere private.”

She looked at him for several seconds.

Then she glanced toward Seraphina.

Something about the woman’s expression bothered her.

Seraphina wasn’t looking at Cassian anymore.

She was looking at Elara.

And there was no sadness in her eyes.

Only triumph.

Elara’s stomach tightened.

She turned away before anyone could see her reaction.

“Give me a moment,” she said, her voice controlled.

Cassian nodded.

Elara walked toward the corridor, but she stopped when she reached the edge of the dining hall.

Her gaze returned to the pregnancy test on the carpet.

She couldn’t leave it there.

Not because she was afraid someone would discover it.

Because she suddenly wasn’t sure she wanted Cassian to be the first person who knew.

She bent down, picked it up, and slipped it into the pocket of her dress.

Then she straightened.

For five years, she had fought to prove that being wolf-less did not make her unworthy of being Luna.

Tonight, she had discovered that she was carrying the heir everyone had demanded from her.

But instead of feeling victorious, she felt something much more dangerous.

Suspicion.

Because Cassian’s story explained what had happened between him and Seraphina.

It did not explain why Seraphina looked so pleased.

And Elara had learned long ago that in the Nightfang Pack, the most dangerous things were rarely the ones people said aloud.